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PFOA,
a chemical found in products ranging from clothes to stain
repellents to food packaging and cosmetics, and a component of
Teflon production, poses developmental and reproductive risks
to humans, according to a risk assessment form the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Current
PFOA exposures in children may be well above safe levels, and
some children have high enough blood levels of PFOA to cause
serious toxicity in laboratory studies.
The
EPA reviewed PFOA after “unexpected toxicological and
bioaccumulation discoveries” in the entire class of
perfluorinated chemicals, particularly PFOS (perfluorooctane
sulfonates), the active ingredient in Scotchgard, which was
removed from the market by the EPA in 2000.
PFOS
has similar chemical properties to PFOA. Neither product
breaks down in the environment and both cause various cancers
and adverse effects.
In
animal studies PFOA has been associated with:
 | “Significant
increases in treatment related deaths” in rat offspring
at doses that did not affect the mothers
| Serious
changes in the weight of various organs, including the
brain, prostate, liver, thymus, and kidneys
| The
deaths of a significant number of rat pups of mothers that
had been exposed to PFOA
| Damage
to the pituitary at all doses in female rat offspring (The
pituitary secretes hormones that regulate growth,
reproduction, and many metabolic processes. Change in
pituitary size is associated with toxicity) |
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Other
unrelated studies have also found evidence of birth defects in
babies from PFOA-exposed workers. In 1981, two out of seven
women who worked at a DuPont Teflon plant gave birth to babies
with birth defects. DuPont then moved 50 women workers at the
plant to reduce their exposure to PFOA.
Additionally,
PFOA has been associated with tumors in at least four
different organs in animal tests, and has been associated with
increases in prostate cancer in PFOA plant workers.
The
potentially harmful effects of PFOA are heightened because
exposure is so widespread. Some 90 percent of the U.S.
population has PFOA in their blood, some at levels as high as
those found in PFOA factory workers.
According
to the EPA, it is not known how humans are generally exposed
to the substance. However, it has been suggested that PFOA’s
longevity could be a contributing factor.
Unlike
PCBs and DDT, PFOA does not break down in the environment, so
it is infinitely persistent. Additionally, other classes of
chemicals break down into PFOA, which means that even if PFOA
were banned, levels of the substance in the environment could
still increase due to the other chemicals.
In
short, all of the PFOA generated by industries will remain in
the environment indefinitely.
Although
PFOA and related chemicals have been widely used in consumer
products for 50 years, risks posed by such chemicals have only
recently been exposed. Industry is not required to conduct
safety tests on chemicals like PFOA in order to sell or use
them. Due to this lack of regulatory authority, the EPA’s
influence over chemical manufacturers is largely limited to
requests for data once contamination creates a problem.
Environmental
Working Group March 28, 2003
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